A new study carried out by neuroscientists and psychologists at the University of Freiburg (Germany) reveals that in stressful situations men do not have aggressive behavior but tend to be protective and friendly . Through a series of experiments, the results of which are published in the journal Psychological Science , Markus Heinrichs and his colleagues found that male individuals subjected to stress show positive social behavior compared to control subjects who do not face a stressful situation. However, negative social behavior (aggressiveness, punishment …) is not affected by stress (neither increases nor decreases).
Heinrichs assures that, although it was already known from planned studies that before undergoing a stressful situation, social contact with an individual who inspires confidence reduces the intensity of the response, it is now confirmed that during times of stress we also tend be friendly, nice and share . This contradicts the idea, accepted for more than a century, that humans and other animal species always show a "fight or flight" response to stress.
